The two exchanged a few pleasantries before Xia Weiyi stated the purpose of her visit.
"It has been some time since I last saw Ru'er. I found myself with some free time today, so I thought I would come by for a visit."
Madam Qi visibly relaxed and replied, "You have come at an inconvenient time, Princess. Ru'er was being fussy earlier and refused to take her afternoon nap, so she went over to Yan'er's place. Here, Cailian, go bring Ru'er here and tell her that the Princess has come to see her."
The tall, thin maid called Cailian curtsied and turned to fetch the child, but Xia Weiyi paused for a moment and said, "There is no need for that. As it happens, it has been a long time since I last saw Yan'er as well. I shall go see them both together."
Yan'er was the original host’s eldest son, now six years old, having only recently moved out of Madam Qi’s courtyard.
In the original story, neither of these two children met a happy end.
Because the original host’s temperament had changed drastically following her husband’s death, the abuse she inflicted in the beginning was limited to scolding and beatings, posing no immediate threat to their lives.
However, as her condition worsened, she lost all sense of restraint. She beat her eldest son to the point of near-death on several occasions, and if it hadn't been for the attendants sent by Princess Duan to look after her, her young daughter would likely have fallen victim to her cruelty long ago.Later, Princess Duan stopped letting her near the children. Yet despite every precaution, when Yan'er was four years old, the original owner took him and attempted suicide by slitting their wrists. By the time they were discovered, both of their bodies were already cold. Fortunately, the Emperor summoned renowned physicians, allowing them to survive.
What happened afterward was easily explained.
Because of his childhood trauma, Yan'er was timid and cowardly, afraid to grow close to others. It was only after Tang Qingyue entered the mansion that she guided him step by step. For her sake, he even took the initiative to ask the Emperor to transfer the peerless title of the Duke's Mansion to Song Yunjian, and in the end, he died under the blade of the villain to protect the female protagonist.
Ru'er's ending was even more tragic.
Being young and unable to remember much, she did not harbor the same deep fear and aversion toward the original owner. Instead, she had always yearned in her heart for maternal love, and consequently detested Tang Qingyue, who constantly opposed her mother. Ru'er crossed swords with Tang Qingyue at every turn, yet always came out the loser.
The book stated that Madam Qi's attitude toward Ru'er was always just to keep her alive; she never disciplined her, no matter what mistakes she made. With someone backing her up, Ru'er grew utterly lawless and spent her days mingling with a crowd of dissolute youths. By the age of sixteen, when it was time to discuss marriage arrangements, it was discovered that she was pregnant, and when questioned, she had no idea who the father was.By this time, Song Yunjian had completely taken control of the Duke's Mansion. He had a bowl of abortion medicine brought to her, and once she recovered her strength, he sent more than twenty strong guards to escort her to a temple to practice asceticism, keeping her under strict guard and forbidding her to leave.
Yet, using goodness knows what methods, she had seduced the monks and guards at the temple until every single one of them obeyed her every word. In the end, she even used them, along with her former gang of dissolute companions, to almost tear the male and female protagonists apart forever.
Since Song Ruchu had harmed Song Yunjian's precious darling, logic dictated that the male lead should have slashed her dead with a single stroke. But the author refused to do so, masking it under the pretext of repaying the original owner's kindness in raising him, only to give her an even more disgusting ending: she was reduced to a brothel, where she eventually died of a foul disease.
Disgusting. It was utterly disgusting.
Not a single member of the original owner's family or her friends and relatives met a good end in the book, while the male and female protagonists lived in blissful harmony, guiltlessly inheriting everything belonging to the Duke's Mansion by the end, only to dismiss everyone else's ruin as bringing it upon themselves.
Xia Weiyi felt sick enough to vomit.
For this reason alone, it was impossible for her to be on good terms with the male and female protagonists. Now that she occupied the original owner's body, she would naturally protect her family well.
Bidding farewell to Madam Qi, the group traversed the greater part of the Duke's Mansion before finally arriving at her convenient son's Ranqing Courtyard.
Xia Weiyi looked up at the plaque of Ranqing Courtyard, a mocking smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
Her sense of direction had always been quite good. Although she hadn't yet inspected every courtyard in the Duke's Mansion since transmigrating, she had studied its floor plan.
Right now, this Ranqing Courtyard was situated precisely at the diagonal opposite corner from her Qiyun Courtyard.
It seemed her convenient son was truly terrified of her.
"Greetings, Princess!"
The servants of Ranqing Courtyard dropped to their knees the moment they saw her, and Xia Weiyi almost jumped out of the way.
In all the days since her transmigration, the servants she encountered had mostly bowed with a curtsy; for such a large crowd to suddenly collapse onto their knees before her made her feel as though she were their long-dead ancestor.
"Rise!"
As the word fell, however, not a single person dared to stand. Xia Weiyi frowned and looked over, only to realize that the figures kneeling before her were trembling like sieves, while fragmented, brutal scenes surfaced in her mind.During the period when the original host had been depressed, the servants she beat and scolded most often were precisely the ones taking care of the two children.
Understanding this, Xia Weiyi did not bring it up again, but said, "I came to see Ru'er. You may return to your duties."
Saying this, she lifted her foot to step into the courtyard. Unexpectedly, the servant closest to her suddenly rushed forward, spreading his arms wide to block her path. Perhaps realizing how audacious this was, he held the pose for only a brief moment before falling to his knees before her with a loud *thud*.
It was such a sharp sound that even Xia Weiyi felt a sympathetic ache in her own knees.
"Audacious servant! How dare you block the Princess's path!"
Mammy Li barked sternly. White as a sheet with fear, the young servant refused to step back even an inch, trembling as he prostrated himself on the ground.
"Princess, Master Zhuang is still giving lessons to the young heir. He won't return until after the hour of the Monkey."
It was currently barely past one in the afternoon, meaning there was still a long wait ahead.
Xia Weiyi narrowed her eyes, studying the terrified servant in front of her. "It doesn't matter. I came to see Ru'er. What, do I need the young heir's permission to see my own daughter?"
The servant trembled. "N-No... this humble servant did not mean that... it is only that..."
Cold sweat broke out on the boy's forehead. How could he dare speak the truth—that the young heir feared the Princess would harm the siblings again, and had thus instructed them not to let her into Ranqing Courtyard easily?
Xia Weiyi more or less guessed the intention of her convenient son. She had simply not expected that Yan'er, who was described in the book as a weak and mediocre child, could already command absolute obedience from the servants in his courtyard at just six years old—even to the point of blocking her path. It seemed he wasn't as timid as the book claimed.
She decided not to make things difficult for them, though she still intended to go inside.
These servants were simply afraid she would harm the children and that, failing to stop her, they would end up taking the blame.
Mammy Li truly proved herself a capable assistant by stepping forward at this moment. "Where in the world do servants block their master? The Princess is generous and won't hold this against you. With us accompanying her, you may all run along and attend to your own business!"
This implied she would take full responsibility for whatever happened.
The servants of Ranqing Courtyard were no fools. The older ones caught her meaning immediately. Stealing a glance at Xia Weiyi and seeing that she bore no grudge, they hastily pulled the blocking servant aside.
An older maidservant offered to lead the way, but Xia Weiyi wanted to give the child a surprise. Asking for Ru'er's location, she headed in with her own entourage.
Ranqing Courtyard was not large and sat in a secluded location. Apart from the servants attending Yan'er, few people came and went. Before long, she caught the sound of a child's laughter, crisp and bright like silver bells.
Mammy Li said in pleasant surprise, "That's Ru'er's voice."
Xia Weiyi couldn't help curving her lips into a smile. Following the sound, she passed through a grove of purple bamboo and spotted several figures standing in the shade of a tree in the distance.
However...
"Young Lady, put it down!"
"Aaaaah! Young Lady, stay away!"
"Aaaaah!"
Two maidservants around twelve or thirteen were screaming as they darted around with their hands over their heads. Chasing right behind them was a carved-from-jade little girl who looked about three or four years old.
The little girl wore a pink dress with two small flower-bud buns pinned on either side of her head, making her look like a tiny dumpling. If one ignored the white-bellied frog clutched in her hand, she would have seemed entirely harmless to man and beast alike.
"My goodness, what are those two girls running for? If they make Ru'er fall, I'll beat them to death!"
Xia Weiyi's group had not yet seen the frog in the little girl's hands, so Mammy Li grew anxious and angry, rolling up her sleeves to go grab them.
"Mammy Li, they're just playing. It's fine."
Xia Weiyi stopped her. To her, they were all just children, and roughhousing was completely normal.
With that, she stepped forward toward the little girl, who looked like a sweet peach dumpling, feeling a wave of excitement in her heart.
Back in modern times, she had considered having a child, but had never found a suitable father, so the idea had eventually fizzled out.
Now, this was great—Heaven had gifted her two children.
As expected, even if she didn't give birth herself, her children would still be born into a better family.